Have you ever wondered how top athletes do it? How they manage to just keep going, running that last mile, pushing past the person ahead of them to take the lead? While it’s true they’ve spent years toning their bodies to be the best they can be, that’s not the only thing that sets them apart and allows them to perform amazing feats of athleticism. The mental component of exercise is an enormous challenge for many people, whether they’re just starting to get fit or pushing themselves to the next level of competition. The greatest athletes have been shown to have exceptionally high levels of mental toughness to help them push beyond their rivals and win the competition. They train both their minds and their bodies in order to succeed. For the rest of us, developing more mental toughness could be the key to building up and maintaining fitness. But why?

Being active has many benefits besides having a good level of fitness; fitness alone is a very big factor to have. Being physically active leads to the development of cognitive skills among children, in simple words, they become better at their lessons. And the more children engage in competitive sports, the faster they pick up life skills related to teamwork, leadership and being competitive. However, children need to be encouraged by their parents and guardians to engage in physical activity, especially in this day and age where there are so many options for entertainment indoors, unlike 20 years ago. And more importantly, it needs to be shown to children that being active is not a chore but actually, quite a fun way to kill time and be fitter at the same time.

Think of a goal you would like to accomplish – is it that you would like to lose 5lbs? (or 50?) Would you like to lower your cholesterol by 30 points? How about complete a 10k?

Working towards something helps you stay on track, and seeing the success of intermediate milestones also motivates you to keep up the good work. Everyone has days when they just don’t want to work out, and there will always be days when turning down dessert seems impossible, but if you see these as road blocks getting in the way of where you want to go, then you’ll have fewer days like this.

Depression is more common than many people think. In fact, it’s one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States, affecting about 6.7% of adults. That’s 16 million Americans: people who have to cope with the sometimes debilitating effects of the illness in their everyday lives. The problem is severe enough that the WHO (World Health Organization) has declared depression the top cause of disability worldwide. Estimates suggest that more than 4% of the world’s population as a whole are affected by depression. Like many mental illnesses, it’s common for depression to be taken less seriously as it should be—as if it isn’t an issue that greatly impacts everyday life for those who suffer from it. Here’s why it’s important that we start shifting these views in the United States and worldwide.

We’re an ever-ageing population and as we live longer, better advances in drug treatments and knowledge of how to better treat life-threatening illnesses means that we’re all living longer. For some, dietary choices made in early life are catching up with them and as a result many are having to adopt healthy eating regimes to counteract the damage they have done to themselves.

“When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable,” wrote Victor Hugo. Wrinkles cannot be stopped nor totally prevented because it is as inevitable as us and our bodies growing old. Nevertheless, nobody welcomes aging, much more so, premature aging. Let the players in the multi-billion dollar beauty and personal care industry keep pitching and outshining each other in their ads and marketing tactics. At this point, we, consumers, are interested, more than ever, to have another look at natural products and home remedies to rescue our skin from wrinkles.

Water is as essential for human existence as oxygen is. In fact, it is impossible to imagine survival without water. You need it for every daily activity as well as maintaining good health. At the same time, it is important to realize that drinking water has to be pure and clean to be fit for human consumption. It is most likely to make you sick if infected with contaminants. There are several water-borne diseases which can be caused by the presence of harmful microorganisms in drinking water. While some of them are not serious, others can be life-threatening. However, most of these diseases are preventable and drinking clean water is the best precautionary measure you can take. Drinking boiled or bottled water is a good idea. But if you are looking for a convenient and sure way to get clean drinking water every day, the utility of a kitchen filter is unmatched.

It’s inevitable: we love trends as humans. Trendy colors, trendy clothes, and even trendy food. Superfoods have lately been the trendiest foods around, and it seems like every year, more foods are being hailed as powerhouses of nutrition. From all the hype, you’d think that just eating these foods could help you live to be over a hundred years old, never age, and have boundless energy. Of course, that’s not the case. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t offer health benefits. So what’s the truth: are superfoods worth the hype, or not?

Winter is here—and with it, colds and flu run rampant. Everyone gets sick from time to time, and it can be difficult to decide when to see a doctor for a routine illness. If you head to urgent care and your illness turns out to be nothing more than a cold, you’ll be sent home with instructions to rest and take lots of fluids, and you’ll end up getting billed (and traveling to the doctor’s office) for nothing. However, some illnesses are more serious than others, especially if you’re older. While colds rarely develop into something more, the flu can strike (yes, even after a flu shot) and become very dangerous. You may want to seek medical attention as soon as possible if you think you have the flu. Here’s how to spot some differences between a cold and flu, and how to look for symptoms that should make you pick up the phone and call your physician.